The Unified Patent Court will have jurisdiction over European patents in all European Union countries with the exception of Spain, Croatia and Poland.
The Unified Patent Court, under the umbrella of the European Union, will be able to deal in a unified manner with lawsuits relating to the rights granted by European patents. It will have jurisdiction over claims for infringement of European patents and claims for invalidity of European patents.
The Unified Patent Court is made up of Industrial Property experts, which gives the parties involved in litigation greater legal certainty.
The Unified Patent Court will make it easier and cheaper to enforce European patent rights, since infringement suits will be heard in a single court but will be effective in all countries under its jurisdiction.
However, on the other hand, the validity of a European patent may be challenged in an equally unified invalidity proceeding valid for all the above-mentioned countries.
Transitional measures
A transitional period is established until the Unified Patent Court becomes fully operational, starting on March 1, 2023 and extending, in principle, until June 2030, which may be extended for an additional 7 years, until June 2037.
During this transitional period, applicants / holders of European patents may request exclusion from the jurisdiction of the Unified Patent Court (Opt-Out).
This opt-out must be expressly requested by the applicant/patent holder and will be valid until the end of the legal life of the patent in question.
The opt-out request is subject to the following limitations:
- The request must be made by the applicant(s) or the holder(s) of the European application / patent. It may not be requested by applicants/owners not registered in the patent register or by licensees.
- Opt-out may not be requested for a unitary patent; therefore, if in a European patent application, an opt-out has been requested and subsequently, when granted, it is validated as a unitary patent, the opt-out will be annulled and will return to the jurisdiction of the Unified Patent Court.
- It may not be requested for a patent where proceedings (infringement or invalidity) have already been initiated before the Unified Patent Court.
- The opt-out may be revoked at the request of the applicant or holder at any time. After such revocation, the European patent will revert to the jurisdiction of the Unified Patent Court and it will not be possible to request a new opt-out.
In the period from March 1, 2023 to June 1, 2023 (when the Unified Patent Court starts its operation) it will be possible to request opt-out out of a European patent application or patent for any registration, since the unitary patent has not yet entered into force, nor can there be any proceedings pending in the Unified Patent Court.
If you subsequently wish to withdraw the opt-out, it will be possible to do so at the request of the applicant or holder, unless invalidity or infringement proceedings have been initiated in the national courts.
If you would like more information on the convenience of requesting the opt-out for your European patent applications or European patents, please do not hesitate to contact us for advice.
